


No Galleon Large Enough

by giddyginny



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, HP: EWE, My First Fanfic, right after the battle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 12:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14237583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giddyginny/pseuds/giddyginny
Summary: Luna was in control. She was calm. She was serene. She was glassy-eyed, good old oblivious Luna, who didn’t let anything penetrate her impossibly thick skin. In control.Crying. She was crying, actually.---Weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts, Luna is left confused on where she and Ginny stand. Will she risk the small amount of hope she has, or keep going on without being certain where Ginny's heart lies?





	No Galleon Large Enough

            Luna just needed to just say it. Say the thing that had gnawed at her since the battle, though there had been so many much more pressing issues. There hadn’t been time for months. Her life had been nothing but a blur of celebrations and funerals, reunions and retributions ever since the battle. She was sure she’d felt every emotion there was to feel. And she’d kept them contained, like she always did.

            She had been there for Fred’s funeral, for Colin’s, and Lupin’s and Tonk’s and everyone else’s. Fred’s had stood out, of course. Ginny had wept. Luna had held her. Held her, in public, and wiped away the tears as they rolled thick and fast down her freckled face. No one had given it a second thought, because Ginny’s brother was dead and naturally her best friend would comfort her.

            When Harry had come and taken Ginny’s hand so gently, Ginny had fallen into him and away from her, weeping into Harry’s shoulder while Luna was left with empty arms. It was an easy, quick, painful movement that made Luna’s head swim even now.

            But that wasn’t what was on her mind. That had been understandable. She knew her feelings of jealousy were unreasonable there. If Ginny wanted the comfort of another friend at her own brother’s funeral, Luna wouldn’t stand in her way. She would never stand in her way, even if it happened again, in a situation less understandable…

            But she had a right to know. Even if she had to break the peace of this gorgeous sunny afternoon. Even if she was snuggled to Ginny’s chest and never wanted to leave.

            It wasn’t their first chance to be alone together, but it was the first where Luna could even consider risking it all. It had all been too perfect, too necessary, to give up.

            Ginny and Luna had settled into a routine of sneaking away from the Burrow and its many occupants. Luna had been staying there while her father recovered in St. Mungos, and they had had plenty of time to fall back into old habits and steal quiet moments for each other. Luna had loved these last few weeks. She didn’t want to give them up, but the nagging doubts were growing too strong. This was the first time she could even begin to stomach saying it, and she worried it would be her last. She could lose her nerve. If it wasn’t now, it may be never.

            Luna lifted her head ever so slightly to look up at Ginny. She was laying with her eyes shut, clearly oblivious to the turmoil within Luna. No one could have expected otherwise, as Luna had been working so hard to maintain composure and just let this time be as happy as it could be. She knew these peaceful afternoons had meant the world to Ginny, who was having a harder time adjusting to life after the war. Was it really worth adding conflict to an otherwise perfect arrangement?

             _It’s not perfect_ , thought Luna. She was beyond frustrated with this undefined state they were stuck in. It was fine to not put a name to things when they were still silly teenagers and sneaking around corridors, too scared of their own feelings to do more than hold each other and gaze to each other's eyes.

            Luna had survived Ginny’s courtships with boys and had kept herself from ending the friendship over her incredible jealousy. But just under a year ago, when Ginny and Luna had returned to Hogwarts and there was no Dean or Harry in sight, things had changed. It hadn’t been tension filled hugs, it had been locked lips and barricaded doors.  They gave each other whispered, heartfelt promises and a trail of detailed letters exchanged in secret.

            But the boys were back, and Harry was now the savior of all the world, and clearly still interested in Ginny. At Burrow dinners they sat next to each other and joked while Luna tried not to break her well-practiced dreamy expression, her stomach roiling with hurt and anger. Ginny was spending her free time with Luna almost exclusively, and that gave Luna hope. But that hope flickered every time Ginny and Harry kicked off the ground for a pick up game of Quidditch, and Luna was left on the ground, watching.

            Luna gathered her resolve. She deserved to know where she stood.

            “I need to ask you something,” Luna said, the words falling out in a rush.

            “Mm?” Ginny asked lazily, her arm over her eyes as she dozed in the grass.

            Luna sat up fully. Ginny hand followed the movement, sliding up to stay resting on Luna’s shoulder. Luna sat waiting, feeling helpless in her attempt to hold Ginny’s attention.

            Luna’s stillness seemed to alert Ginny to the severity of the matter at hand, as her arm fell away from her face so that she could prop herself up and look at Luna.

            “I didn’t catch what you said, I’m sorry. What’s up?” Her eyes were soft and her smile small; her expression was pure peaceful drowsiness, no hint of urgency.

            Luna’s heart raced. This could be it. This could be the end. Her eyes flicked all over Ginny’s face, taking in her beautiful brown eyes, the freckles spattered like stars, her soft pink lips…

            “Luna. What’s happened?”

            “AreyoustillinlovewithHarry?” Luna’s eyes widened somehow further, her own hand clasping her mouth. She had practiced this! In the mirror it had been nonchalant. It had been open-ended, leaving Ginny free to be honest without fear of hurting Luna’s feelings. That’s why she stayed so calm all the time; she wanted to be honest and let others be honest with her. It didn’t work as well when she let her words fall out like marbles.

            Ginny tilted her head, her heavy curtain of hair slipping off her shoulder. Luna’s eyes followed it, suddenly convinced she would never get to braid it again. No more evenings spend with her legs wrapped around Ginny’s waist, her hands in the red hair, sculpting it into elaborate twists and up-dos while they talked about anything and everything.

            “What was that? I still didn’t hear you,” Ginny frowned.

            Luna took a steadying breath. Her third chance. This one had to count.

            Feigning relaxation, her pushed a hand into her own limp, thin hair and tossed it back. With a shaky breath, she said, “I just wanted to ask how you’re feeling about Harry these days.”

            “Er,” Ginny’s frown deepened. That couldn’t be a good sign. Luna just needed to hold it together. Even if this was it. Even if she had just been a distraction while Harry was running around, saving the world. Even if her heart shattered right here, right now, Luna was going to stay in control. She wasn’t going to hurt Ginny further; she wasn’t going to make it harder on her.

            Luna’s lip trembled.

            In control. She was in control. She was calm. She was serene. She was glassy-eyed, good old oblivious Luna, who didn’t let anything penetrate her impossibly thick skin. In control.

            Crying. She was crying, actually.

            “Oh Luna,” Ginny breathed, reaching to wipe a tear away, her hand resting at Luna’s jaw. Ginny’s thumb swept Luna’s cheeks while her fingertips slid into her hair. “Luna, lovely, have you been worried this whole time?”

            Luna shook her head, but she had to keep her tears from flooding. They broke through her eyelids and spilled over Ginny’s thumb.

            “Lovely, no. Harry’s one of my best friends. I missed him, and I was so worried about him. But you- I got you back. When you came through the portrait I- I couldn’t- I was so-"

            Ginny shifted forward, pulling Luna’s face into the crook of her neck so Ginny could easily stroke Luna’s hair. “I love you, Luna. I thought you knew.”

            “But you haven’t broken up with him, and you didn’t say anything in the Room of Requirement. You just. You only looked at him. And that was okay, except when Cho wanted to take him to the Ravenclaw common room, you made me go instead, and I thought- maybe you didn’t want them alone together- and, well it, well, it’s just, I know it’s not, except—” Luna choked. She tried to keep talking, but nothing of any sense was coming out.

            Ginny gently put her thumb over Luna’s pursed lips, and Luna stopped babbling. Ginny was staring with wide, hurt eyes.

            “Has a wrackspurt got you?” Ginny teased, but her voice was heavy and nothing like her normal joking tone.

            “That must be it,” Luna sniffed.

            Ginny pulled her close again, combing her fingers through Luna’s hair while Luna worked to stop her tears. Soon Luna felt confident enough in her control to pull away and look back into Ginny’s eyes.

            “So why didn’t you break up with him, if you wanted to be with me?”

            “Harry broke up with me, if you’ll remember. I don’t need to go and do it again.”

            “Yeah, but, he didn’t want to. You didn’t want him to. And now there’s no reason not to…to get back…”

            “Yes there is. There’s a huge reason why we aren’t back together.”

            Luna tilted her head. “What?”

            “You, you silly,” Giny kissed her lightly, “goofy,” another kiss, “gorgeous,” a deeper, longer kiss that left Luna breathless, “wonderful girl.”

            “Oh,” Luna laughed against Ginny’s cheek. “That’s a good reason.”

            Ginny studied Luna. “I can’t believe you didn’t know that. Or…” Ginny looked away, sighing and letting her shoulders fall in defeat. “I can’t believe that I didn’t tell you. I’m so sorry.”

            “It’s okay,” Luna beamed through her tears.

            “No, lovely, it’s not. You’ve been torn up about this. I’ve just been so happy to be back with you, and so confident in this, I didn’t notice how…not confident you were.”

            “Well…”

            “Come on.” Ginny stood up quickly, her hand clasped around Luna’s.

            “What…?”

            “I need to show you something. Come follow me.”

            Luna stood and found herself yanked along as Ginny spun on her heel and walked briskly. Ginny lead her back through the meadow, through the strip of beech trees that backed the Weasley’s property, through the orchard, and started into the Burrow’s backyard.

            Luna let her hand slide from Ginny’s out of habit.

            Ginny pulled it back. She looked over her shoulder to Luna and beamed, slowing so they could walk side by side. Luna held her breath as they walked into the packed kitchen. It felt as if it hadn’t emptied since the week after the battle. It was a blur of faces; the Weasleys, Fleur, Hermione, and of course, Harry. He sat at the table, sipping tea and chatting with Mr. Weasley. He looked up at Ginny and grinned, but his expression faltered as he took in their clasped hands. He frowned slightly as he looked to Luna, who couldn’t help but shrug. Harry’s grin went sideways, but it was friendly as he shrugged back.

            Ginny tugged Luna up the stairs as Mrs. Weasley called, “Dinner’s soon girls, come back quickly to set the table.”

            Ginny pulled Luna into her room, closing the door behind them and locking it with a solid click. Luna fell against the door, breathless.

            But Ginny was far away in the opposite corner, digging through her school truck and sending things flying as she searched. Luna pushed the visions of a private, passionate moment from her mind as she pushed off from the door to sit neatly on the bed.

            Ginny made a triumphant noise as she pulled out a thick roll of parchment. Ginny came to sit next to Luna, folding one leg behind Luna’s back and letting the other dangle off the edge. She pushed the parchment into Luna’s hands.

            “I had them hidden from mum, she likes to snoop. But I wanted to show you…I never stopped writing to you. You just- you couldn’t receive them, so I didn’t send them. And then when it was all over, it felt too much like picking at old wounds to show you. But I should have. I should have realized that things weren’t as clear for you as they were for me.”

            Luna took a shaky breath as she started to unwrap the scrolls.

            “Skip the first lot. I was so worried about you; I didn’t know where you were, or what they were doing to you, and I let those feelings into the letters.”

            Luna looked at the top sheet. It was long, but clearly written in a hurry and obviously tear stained. “ _I miss you_ ,” she read in several places as she skimmed. The first ten or so were not much different. She caught words of despair and wanting to leave school to find her. Luna’s chest swelled with the thought of Ginny rushing to her rescue.

            “Skip those, I said. They’re miserable. Look, these are the ones I really wanted to show you. From when you sent us that message on the DA galleons.” Ginny reached over and flipped to almost the end of the stack.

            _You’re safe. I knew you would be. I just knew you were alive. I knew you that if you were really gone, I would feel it. I love you, I love you, I love you. I’ll see you soon, somehow. No one’s going to stop me. Luna lovely, I’ll be there soon, just as soon as I can slip out and away, I’ll come to the cottage and_  

            Luna stopped, nowhere near the end. “Reckless,” she whispered.

            “I’d have gotten to you,” Ginny said fiercely. “The messages on the galleons were too short, and I just needed to know that you were more than just okay. You were safe, but I knew you must have been having a hard time, and I couldn’t comfort you with a galleon. I was going to get to you, but mum caught me a few times. She thought I was trying to see Harry at first, but then I tried again on the day he left, and I think she started to realize it wasn’t about him. But she wouldn’t let me risk it. I tried though, lovely, I tried so hard.”  

            Luna fell back into Ginny’s chest, letting Ginny wrap her arms around her shoulders while Luna hugged Ginny’s waist.

            “I love you, Luna. God, I love you. I’m so sorry I didn’t show you how much I loved you sooner.”

            “You have,” Luna said, muffled by Ginny’s shoulder and trying to keep her voice even. All those afternoons in the meadow, all those evenings tucked in Ginny’s room; she knew they were full of signs of love from Ginny. “But I didn’t really…”

            “You didn’t believe me,” Ginny sighed. “Because of him?”

            Luna nodded, too embarrassed to look up.

            “Can I ask you to trust me, just once, right now?”

            “Only once?”

            “For now,” Ginny teased. “We need to set the table.”

            Luna lifted herself from Ginny’s chest and let Ginny pull her into standing position. Ginny gently led the way down the stairs while Luna’s heart pummeled against her ribs. She was feeling heady from all these revelations, and had to keep herself from hoping and guessing at what Ginny was leading her to.

            They came back to the kitchen, now even more packed with people than before. Ginny still held Luna’s hand, soft but firm, not letting Luna withdraw.

            “There you are, Ginny dear. We’ll need ten places set out tonight,” Mrs. Weasley said as she charmed the paprika to fall into the soup pot in three precise shakes.

            “No problem. My girlfriend can help, can’t she?”

            “Of course your friend can, Luna’s always welcome,” Mrs. Weasley said absently.

            “No mum. Luna’s my girlfriend. Not just my friend.”

            Luna could feel herself reddening, knowing she must look like a dirigible plum. She stepped behind Ginny to try and shield herself from the deafening quiet that had fallen on the kitchen as all gazes turned to them. She could feel Ginny stand straighter and lift her chin.

            “Of- of course. If your girlfriend wants to help she’s welcome to," Molly faltered but quickly recovered. "Luna dear, the silverware is in this drawer by the sink. Best let Ginny get the plates, they may be too high up for you.” Molly’s voice was casual, but Luna peeked over Ginny’s shoulder to find that Molly was smiling kindly.

            “Okay,” Luna said shakily.

            “So Harry,” Ginny said sharply. “Still good mates, yeah? And nothing more?”

            Luna turned to watch Harry blink. He looked a bit woebegone, but friendly. “Yeah, clearly,” he said, smiling softly.

            “That’s settled then.” Ginny turned to Luna and grinned.

            “Settled,” echoed Luna.

            “You girls won’t be sharing that room any longer, mind. Ginny will sleep on the couch.” Mrs. Weasley said from the stove, a warm but warning tone in her voice.

            Everyone laughed as Ginny and Luna’s faces sank into identical shades of burgundy. Luna turned quickly to the silverware drawer and hid her face in her long hair. Ginny came behind her to reach into the dishes cabinet.

            “But you’ll come visit me on the couch, won’t you?” whispered Ginny.

            “Yes,” breathed Luna.

            Ginny came down with a stack of heavy plates and pecked a sweet kiss to Luna’s lips. Her eyes were warm as she said, “I love you.”

            “I love you too,” said Luna, for the first but certainly not the last time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading my first fic! I'm decades late the party, but happy to be here. I kept myself from reading any Linny content before finishing my own so that other people's interpretations wouldn't affect mine. Now I get to dive in and read everyone else's! I'm super excited to be here on AO3, so please feel free to reach out to me if you're interested in making friends and building community. :)


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